Create mixed fruit in 10 easy steps

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Tips & Tutorials, by Mark White

December 3, 2014

Take a break from the norm and use layer masks to place a kiwi inside an orange!

1. Make a path

Start by opening your images. Select the Pen tool and place points around the edges of the kiwi, as we’re using, just inside the skin. By clicking and dragging, each point can be curved to form a round path. Hold Ctrl/Cmd to activate the Direct Selection tool to reposition the points as you go.

2. Duplicate the layer

Once the path is joined, Ctrl/right-click inside its area and choose Make Selection. In the pop-up menu set Feather to 0 and hit OK. Press Ctrl+Cmd+J to duplicate the now selected kiwi centre onto its own layer. Use the Move tool (V) to drag and drop this layer onto the image of the oranges.

3. Mixed fruit

Hide the kiwi’s layer by clicking on its eye symbol and then select the Background layer. Use the Pen tool to form a path around the inside of the halved orange and, leaving a thin gap between your path and the skin of the orange. Ctrl/right-click, choose Make Selection and hit OK. Click back on the kiwi layer and apply a layer mask.

4. Position kiwi

Reveal the kiwi by clicking on its eye and click on the chain link icon between the mask and the layer’s thumbnail. You can now move the kiwi independently to the mask and into position. Hit Cmd/Ctrl+T to resize to suit the orange,

5. Soften mask

Click on the mask’s thumbnail and apply a Gaussian Blur from Filter>Blur. Use a value of 8px for its Radius and hit OK. The mask should now be softer between the edges of the kiwi and the orange.

6. Select kiwi slice

Find a picture of a slice of kiwi or halve the full kiwi. Use the Quick Selection tool is a good substitute. Form a selection around the kiwi, excluding the skin. Press Ctrl/Cmd+J to duplicate the selected kiwi onto a new layer and drag this onto the oranges.

7. Transform the kiwi

Ctrl/Cmd+T to activate the Transform tool. Ctrl/right-click in its bounding box and select Flip Horizontal. Resize, rotate and reshape the kiwi slice to fit over the orange segment. Hide the kiwi’s layer and use the Pen tool to create a path around the segment. Ctrl/right-click>Make Selection and add a new layer mask.

8. Unlink and blur

Unlink the kiwi’s layer thumbnail from its mask and apply a Gaussian Blur to the mask with a value of 8px. Make sure the whole kiwi covers the orange and you can use the smudge tool to push the corners down to meet the tips of the orange’s skin.

9. Resize and reposition

Drag the kiwi slice onto the Create a new layer button to duplicate, making sure the mask is linked with its image. Free Transform the slice (Ctrl/Cmd+T) to fit over the second orange segment. Drag its layer below the other kiwi slice and use the Brush tool (set to black) on its mask to tidy it up.

10. Boost contrast

Add a new Curves adjustment (Layer>New Adjustment Layer) and push up the top half of the line to boost highlights. Pull down the bottom half of the adjustment’s curve to bring back shadow contrast for a punchier result.